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THE CHRONICLES OF THE DAD HATTER:

About Me

I have loved fashion since I was old enough to wield a pair of scissors and start a collection of scrapbooks.I also love to write...hence this blog... about my take on fashion and trends and people in fashion and how I feel about them and it and...well,enough said.
But this isn't a fashion blog like any others as it isn't only about fashion. It is about having fun and laughing and having views and sharing them...as I share The Chronicles of The Dad Hatter with you...and he has absolutely Nothing to do with fashion!...but more to do with laughing. Get the picture?

Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Every month I buy 6 magazines...religiously and without fail: Vogue, Elle, Red, Glamour, Marie Claire and Easy Living.Today I found out from my local newsagent that Easy Living will no longer be published....I am bereft.Easy Living was ...Easy Reading.....Easy Cooking...Easy Shopping.... but unfortunately Conde Nast had to pull the plug after 8 years ,it simply didn't make the figures and it was allowed to go peacefully in its sleep.Well, at least it made it to it's 100th issue with Michelle Obama gracing their cover. That is one way to go out.So.... What will the publishers of Vogue and Glamour pull out of their colossal hat?....Is there to be a new lifestyle magazine .....Hmmm?Someone?....Anyone...?Helloooooooooo???

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

I have been "umming and aahing" over this.... and have finally decided to share this with you! Two weeks ago I waltzed into the Chanel boutique on the Croisette wanting to look at the sale and what it had to offer. I also had a pair of shoes in mind that I wanted to purchase from the summer collection but not really expecting to find them....or so I thought!The place was heaving with hysterical Lebanese women out for a bargain and quite vocal about it too...I felt like I was in a Supermarket. I found my friend who works there and asked her :"I am looking for the shoes with the leather wedge heel...." I was desperately trying to describe them to her and was convinced that I had failed...dismally."I know exactly the pair you mean...I think I may have one pair left!" and off N. goes...returning with the desired pair in hand. I heard angels sing loud enough to drown out Lebanon to my right.They were a perfect fit...they were horribly expensive : €970...not on sale and I HAD TO HAVE THEM!So...I bought them throwing caution to the wind, my partner who is usually the voice of reason, agreeing that they truly were fabulous and very me. I had planned so many outfits around them...my head was spinning,then again the fact I had paid that much may well have been the reason for the nausea....

I knew exactly when I was going to unveil them ....4 days after purchase on a lunch out with the ladies.

I wore a pair of jeans Esprit shorts, a gorgeous white Marithe & Francois Girbaud tunic top that ruched and tied in various places, my vintage black Chanel handbag and my shoes...

I felt like Cannes was my runway and I...the Queen for the day.

Fast forward:the shoes were a HUGE success...all eyes were on them...and I was positively incandescent with joy...And!....incredibly comfortable too.

I get home,remove my babies,wipe away any little speck of dust before cramming in the balled up tissue paper and laying them gently to rest within their box....

" AAAHHHHHHHH!" I scream ,my partner rushing to my side.

And there was a tear....A TEAR!!! in my Chanel shoe!! The thought is inconceivable... but it was blatantly staring me in the face:

The strap had literally torn along the dotted seam....€970 down the toilet.I returned them heartbroken.Obviously there wasn't another pair left...Anywhere. But this was a design flaw so bad that trying to replace it would be downright foolish even N. at Chanel said so...as well as admitting that they did have some returns but not with this particular problem....Hmmmmm....the strap was simply too fine for such a heavy heel.So you would think that due too this horrendous outcome I would be reimbursed?? After all I did not return them on a whim...regretting my purchase or the foolish amount I spent...so giving me my money back would somehow be the right thing to do...Non?Non!....Chanel (in France ?) doesn't reimburse...it gives you a credit note ....The good news is...I have A Year in which to use it in.(a muffled and strangled:)....whoopie.....

I just hope that the Autumn/ Winter collection will have that special something that will call out to me as those shoes did...and I won't have to shell out a penny more!(I shudder at the thought...)Epilogue:Between the rusting Ice-Watch, the €200 + Cotelac cardigan I washed by hand and the colour ran...this has been an interesting summer.As the manageress at the Ice-Watch store told me when I went to pick up my repaired watch:"I really would like to apologize for this ...but I must say,this was very strange!""Oh! ...You don't want to know about the very strange things that have been happening to me...."

Here's a question for you:Who wears Balenciaga better on the Red Carpet by making the "surreal" look downright regal?Cate Blanchett...of course!This was at the premiere of Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" where Cate plays : "..Jasmine, the former wife of a Park Avenue mogul whose wealth was built on fraud. She arrives, bankrupt in Hermes and Chanel, to stay with her working-class sister in San Francisco."

Saturday, 20 July 2013

This is a sequel that was not only worth writing but worth it's weight in gold!!I never thought that Ms.Weisberger would revisit Andy and Miranda Priestly ... (based on Anna Wintour in The Devil Wears Prada...you all know the story)...let alone have a relevant story line that would gel and bind our collective minds as readers together...it did all that in spades and had me glued to my couch savouring every last sentence.The characters are better than ever....Miranda Priestly is evil and ever powerful with her neatly manicured tentacles out to ensnare both Andy and Emily now that they have moved on , launching a successful high end,glossy wedding magazine called "The Plunge".....Miranda is out for revenge .This is a great read....and so much better than her passed novels that come off as "chic lit fluff" in comparison to her "Devil" series: I found "Everyone Worth Knowing "....meh!"Chasing Harry Winston"....blah!And didn't even bother with "Last Night at Chateau Marmont"....pffff!Thank you Lauren Weisberger for writing this excellent sequel.Now go out and buy it..if you haven't already.

Friday, 19 July 2013

It is Summer! ....the heat is soaring as well as the crowds schlepping their bags, kids draggin' those hideous "Trunkie" things and the usual mayhem that comes with being in Heathrow Terminal 5.

So where to escape other than the BA lounge?

Why :CAVIAR HOUSE&PRUNIER of course!

The wine is crisp and extra cool,the seafood is super fresh and delicious and even though you are literally in the hub of the ebb and flow of Terminal 5..... you have found a momentary sanctuary to revive your senses and re awaken your dulled chakras!Enjoy your summer everyone!...and don't forget to drink plenty of liquids...oh and some water too!

Friday, 12 July 2013

My sister introduced me to these lovely modern day "crochet" Cruciani bracelets, that hail from Italy, last summer . She bought me a "four-leaf clover" one which I wore until the clovers looked shrivelled and sad, throughout the summer and into autumn...well until my tan faded.This year I was gifted the " hand of Fatima"motif in a gorgeous fluorescent orange...So what is Cruciani and where can you get them...Here is a little about these bracelets:

It started with a "four -leaf clover" bracelet which was thought up by Luca Caprai who came up with this concept when trying to find a way to bring Cruciani to a younger more discerning public.The crochet bracelets are made of a macrame lace produced by Arnaldo Caprai of Gruppo Tessile...and proudly 100% Made in Italy.Colourful and fun ..they communicate their own message and have become the symbol of summer. You can buy them online at:www.braccialetticruciani.itor in Milan...Rome...Forte dei Marmi...Monza...Taormina.....(to mention a few)Then in Madrid...Palm Beach...Tokyo ...and Dubai!!Don't tell me you couldn't find one!

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Waiter: " How is the food Madam?"Me: " DIVINE!...now could please pour me some more of DE-WINE!"....Something about the crisp flavours of a fine bottle of Gavi di Gavi...that makes you a poet..even a rather bad one.

*WARM AROMATIC CRISP ROAST DUCK & LYCHEE SALAD*

ALL THIS AND MORE...AT THE BROMPTON ASIAN BRASSERIE by NOVIKOV

...Novikov is rapidly becoming a" Frockanrolla Family Favourite" place to eat!

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Listen Up..... Frockanrollers:A new Denim Emporium has opened in Selfridges and it is being referred to as:"The World's Biggest Denim Studio Today".It spans over 26,000 sq.feet with 11,000 pairs of jeans that are priced from £11.00 (Primark jeans) to £ 11,000 ...(I don't want to know....Heck! I hope that includes the delusional designer who will personally pour you into these insane jeans , shorten them and wash them...for a year...) Experts are on hand to insure you maximum service in finding THE RIGHT PAIR OF JEANS or two...with a stock of 11,000 pairs you are looking at a long day of painfully trying on jeans ....There is also a DENIM TAILOR: who is in house and on hand to "bespoke" your purchase within 2 hours....I wouldn't read too much in that time frame,it seems highly unlikely and quite ambitious...but hey! I hope to be proven wrong unless they have an army of 11 tailors and their minions on hand.

Monday, 8 July 2013

These are serious contenders in the "must have " list this summer....I spotted fashion blogger Susie Bubble carrying one while boarding a London bound flight during the Cannes Film Festival...we exchanged smiles while my eyes devoured her sorbet-licious Dior handbag.